Capsized stories?
Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 5:27 pm
So I capsized for the first time today, and I got some unpleasant surprises from my 1960s DS1. I'd really like to hear what other people's experience is with the DS1 or other versions so I can learn what techniques and equipment might make my next time better than my last time. I will go first!
1) When we went over, the mast immediately sank to about 30° inclination below the water and stayed there. It did not pause on the surface to give us a chance to right it, just went right under. Judging by the mud smeared on the mainsail head afterward, it was not any good floatation characteristic that kept us from turning all the way over. The boat was extremely eager to turtle. The mast has styrofoam inside it (which I can see because the folding mast exposes the inside of the extrusion to view) but this was not effective.
Questions: What are other people doing to keep their mast from sinking? Is it that my styrofoam is 60 years old and not floaty anymore, new styrofoam would help? Is it that styrofoam bars in the mast aren't enough and a masthead float is required? Is it normal for this design that the hull bottom feels a joyful pull towards the light and the sun?
2) I thought righting should have been easy -- just stand on the centerboard and lever it back up. But when I put my weight on the end (just hanging, still half my body in the water) and started pulling, the centerboard was making alarming groaning/crackly noises as it bent slightly under my weight. It really sounded/felt like it was going to break, and I am a very skinny guy. I did not stand on it, much less stand on it together with my buddy to right the boat.
Questions: Was I just being timid? Has anybody broken a centerboard this way, or had a dance party on the end without breaking it?
3) With the help of a passing motorist, we did get righted. I looped a line around the shroud chainplate which was out of the water, held it with my hand only (ready to release if anything alarming started to happen) and the motorist pulled directly opposite the mast. The boat rolled back upright pretty easy. I let go the line once we were upright, but the boat wanted to keep rolling and tip back over the other side. It was much more stable upside down than right-side up. With just me in the boat, the bow was out of the water, but the transom was under the water with the coamings just barely above the surface. I tried bailing, but the boat wasn't stable enough to keep both sides out of the water long enough to make any progress. With weather incoming, we had our helpful motorist tow us in semi-submersible mode to the nearby boat ramp / shore. Without a tow, we would have been completely boned here, as we could not bail. Judging by the amount of water that poured out of the under-bench floatation chambers when I pulled the plugs, later, the chambers were both a) not watertight, and b) not full of foam. Bow chamber was dry though.
Questions: How high does your boat float after righting? Are your floatation chambers watertight, with foam inside as backup, or not-watertight, with foam inside as the only floatation? For people who have cut open / replaced their old foam -- how much foam was in there? Was it full of blocks, or crumbled dust, or what?
4) Somewhere in all this adventure, my rudder fell off and sank to the bottom. Goodbye rudder. Goodbye handmade mahogany tiller and tiller extension. <sniff>. I do have a little swinging flap above the pintle that keeps it from coming out of the gudgeon, but the flap swings free and only stops the pintle coming out when the boat is vertical with mast-side up.
Questions: How do you keep your rudder attached to your boat besides making sure that gravity is pulling in the correct direction? Do you like your method and feel it's secure?
1) When we went over, the mast immediately sank to about 30° inclination below the water and stayed there. It did not pause on the surface to give us a chance to right it, just went right under. Judging by the mud smeared on the mainsail head afterward, it was not any good floatation characteristic that kept us from turning all the way over. The boat was extremely eager to turtle. The mast has styrofoam inside it (which I can see because the folding mast exposes the inside of the extrusion to view) but this was not effective.
Questions: What are other people doing to keep their mast from sinking? Is it that my styrofoam is 60 years old and not floaty anymore, new styrofoam would help? Is it that styrofoam bars in the mast aren't enough and a masthead float is required? Is it normal for this design that the hull bottom feels a joyful pull towards the light and the sun?
2) I thought righting should have been easy -- just stand on the centerboard and lever it back up. But when I put my weight on the end (just hanging, still half my body in the water) and started pulling, the centerboard was making alarming groaning/crackly noises as it bent slightly under my weight. It really sounded/felt like it was going to break, and I am a very skinny guy. I did not stand on it, much less stand on it together with my buddy to right the boat.
Questions: Was I just being timid? Has anybody broken a centerboard this way, or had a dance party on the end without breaking it?
3) With the help of a passing motorist, we did get righted. I looped a line around the shroud chainplate which was out of the water, held it with my hand only (ready to release if anything alarming started to happen) and the motorist pulled directly opposite the mast. The boat rolled back upright pretty easy. I let go the line once we were upright, but the boat wanted to keep rolling and tip back over the other side. It was much more stable upside down than right-side up. With just me in the boat, the bow was out of the water, but the transom was under the water with the coamings just barely above the surface. I tried bailing, but the boat wasn't stable enough to keep both sides out of the water long enough to make any progress. With weather incoming, we had our helpful motorist tow us in semi-submersible mode to the nearby boat ramp / shore. Without a tow, we would have been completely boned here, as we could not bail. Judging by the amount of water that poured out of the under-bench floatation chambers when I pulled the plugs, later, the chambers were both a) not watertight, and b) not full of foam. Bow chamber was dry though.
Questions: How high does your boat float after righting? Are your floatation chambers watertight, with foam inside as backup, or not-watertight, with foam inside as the only floatation? For people who have cut open / replaced their old foam -- how much foam was in there? Was it full of blocks, or crumbled dust, or what?
4) Somewhere in all this adventure, my rudder fell off and sank to the bottom. Goodbye rudder. Goodbye handmade mahogany tiller and tiller extension. <sniff>. I do have a little swinging flap above the pintle that keeps it from coming out of the gudgeon, but the flap swings free and only stops the pintle coming out when the boat is vertical with mast-side up.
Questions: How do you keep your rudder attached to your boat besides making sure that gravity is pulling in the correct direction? Do you like your method and feel it's secure?